Systems and methods for monitoring wear of reducing elements

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to display structures for displaying the wear status of reducing elements (e.g., chisels, teeth, etc.) on a reducing component. In certain examples, the display structure can include a matrix that visually depicts all of the reducing elements of the reducing component in a row and column format. The wear status of the reducing elements can be indicated by techniques such as different colors, different numbers, different letters, shapes, bar codes etc. Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to an autonomous system where a remote party can simultaneously monitor the wear status of the reducing elements of multiple machines on the display structure. For each machine, the remote party (e.g., operator, supply source, supervisor, and main office) can each receive a wireless signal indicating when the reducing elements are approaching a need for replacement.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for controlling an autonomous system, the method comprising:
 sensing a wear state of reducing elements on a drum of an excavation machine; 
 sending a wireless signal of the wear state to a remote party; and 
 displaying the wear state of the reducing elements on a display monitor, wherein the display monitor is constructed to display a continuous scroll of the reducing elements, wherein a rotational position of the reducing elements relative to a reference location is displayed, and wherein the reference location is a change-out position. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the remote party is one of an operator and a third party. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the remote party is the third party, and the third party includes a supply source, a main office, or a warehouse. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the reducing elements are displayed all at once in real time on the display monitor. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises automatically indexing the drum to the change-out position using an algorithm. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method includes the steps of monitoring multiple machines and displaying remotely on the display monitor the wear state of the reducing elements on each of the multiple machines. 
     
     
       7. An automatic control method for monitoring and diagnosing reducing elements on an excavation drum of an excavation machine, a sensing system being integrated with a control system for monitoring and diagnosing the reducing elements, the method comprising:
 monitoring a wear state of the reducing elements during operation; 
 sensing a change in the wear state of the reducing elements; 
 sending a communication of the wear state of the reducing elements to a display structure integrated with the control system; 
 upon detection of the change in the wear state beyond a usable limit, alerting an operator to replace the reducing elements; 
 shutting down operation of the excavation machine based on the wear state of the reducing elements; 
 raising the excavation drum; 
 indexing the excavation drum to an ergonomic position in preparation of replacing the reducing elements; and 
 replacing the reducing elements while the drum is held at the ergonomic position for replacing the reducing elements. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the wear status is in the form of a code, the code is selected from the group consisting of: color codes; number codes; and letter codes. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the display structure visually depicts all the reducing elements in a scrolling matrix. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 7 , further facilitating controls for use in autonomous situations where the operator is simultaneously monitoring multiple machines. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 7 , further comprising sending a wireless communication to a third party upon detection of the wear state of the reducing elements beyond the usable limit. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the display structure is provided so that the operator utilizes the display structure to manually and ergonomically align the reducing elements on the excavation drum to a change-out position. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the control system includes an algorithm for automatically turning the excavation drum to a desired change-out position for replacement of the reducing elements. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 7 , wherein the respective wear states of the reducing elements are displayed all at once in real time on the display structure. 
     
     
       15. A display structure, the display structure being integrated with a sensing system for monitoring and diagnosing reducing elements on an excavation machine, the sensing system including a control system in communication with a memory and the display structure, the display structure comprising:
 a display including a display screen, the display being adapted to show a wear status of all of the reducing elements at once; 
 wherein the display is configured to show a rolling scroll of the reducing elements such that a rotational position of the reducing elements relative to a reference location is displayed; and 
 wherein the memory is configured to store information relating to the wear status of the reducing elements. 
 
     
     
       16. The display structure of  claim 15 , wherein rotational positions of all the reducing elements are shown in real time. 
     
     
       17. The display structure of  claim 15 , wherein the display is configured to display the wear status of reducing elements of multiple remote machines when the multiple remote machines are being monitored.